Medieval Ages Online
by xxAristotlexxx
Summary: Garret Hawke is just your everyday English teen... With an unhealthy obsessions with computers, just like his Dad. So when he's given MAO, the newest VRMMORPG for his birthday what will happen? And why are Rangers hated in the English Kingdom? Follow the story of Hawke as he learns of the truth behind the Ranger's Guild in this OC Centric story.
1. Chapter 1 - Link Start

**Medieval Ages Online**

**Arc 1: A new life**

**Chapter 1 - Link start**

My name is Garret Hawke Lane. Weird name, I know but it wasn't my choice - It was my parent's. Great people I know but still a better name could have come to mind instead of Hawke. But, back to the point. it's five years after the SAO incident in Japan that everyone heard about. How couldn't you? Thousands of people trapped in a virtual world with the only way to escape being to reach the last floor of the game. After that incident, mothers and fathers were more worried about letting their kids into games where they could possibly be captured and held but not my parents. God, if my Dad wasn't a computing nut he probably would have gone nuts but he customised my new NerveGear so I'd be safe from that sort of thing. Well, customised was a nice way to put it when in reality he took it apart and figured out a way to ensure that I couldn't be held in a game for an excessive amount of time and to shield my head from the waves that the NerveGear uses to initiate the link - Well, an excessive amount of those waves. It wasn't really called a NerveGear but it was simpler then saying whatever the new name was since the original NerveGears were destroyed after the SAO incident. Mum was happy about that and even bought me the new game released only for European customers! Medieval Ages Online.

Medieval Ages Online had a great box art of a Europe with the flags of each countries filling in the terrain with a reminder at the bottom it was 16+ without parental supervision. On the back of the box, it just talked about how the NerveGear reads your location and automatically sends you into the country you first make the link from and that's it. That's where your loyalties are meant to lie. But then it talked about how there wasn't a real levelling system, only stats progression in what you used whilst the other skills decreased if you didn't maintain them. It was an interesting concept to say the least but it must been annoying to train yourself in things you don't even use just to ensure you can do a simple action. The best part? Magic.

Magic magic magic! Oh by everything that's awesome MAGIC! You can use spells that are trained to you by another player but even then that player has to choose you as their apprentice. But the problem is that Mages are selective, the first mages being trained by the NPCs over their country before going to pass their skills onto their apprentices and their apprentices passing it onto their apprentices - The idea being a Mage's legacy will live on. But then there was the best part! You didn't have to pick a class. It was like the game from years ago my Dad told me about... Skyrim they called it. You never picked a class and instead invested your time into doing what your character loved and thus, gaining bonuses.

But now, I should stop my rambling and just get into the game.

* * *

Garret stood at the corner of his bed, holding the helmet in his hands that was the NerveGear whilst taking in a deep breath. The boy looked to be sixteen, and he was. By English standards, he was in College with entire days off each week whilst his only days with lessons in them were devoted to Computing, History and Geography. So... In other words. One free day a week. Woopy do.

A nervous feeling was causing his hands to tremble before he took in a deep breath, sliding the NerveGear onto his head and covering his head of black hair in a second whilst his green eyes stared out of the visor with a mixture of fear and excitement screaming for release. Laying back on the bed, Garret took a moment to stare at the roof of his dark room for another moment before he spoke the immortal words of any true gamer.

"Link start."

It took a moment before the sudden rush of his consciousness being ripped from the real world and taken into the virtual world hit him or rather took him. There were bright lights for a few moments before darkness took him. Lying... Or was he standing? It didn't matter but it was dark and he was suspended in mid air. Massive words blinked into life before him accompanied by a female voice.

_"Welcome to Medieval Ages Online new player!"_

The words disappeared for a moment before a new set appeared before him accompanied by the voice.

_"We already see you are from England, impressive! You shall be automatically put in with the English faction as a part of game mechanics. Do you wish to join a different faction?"_

Two lights blinked into life before him, causing him to blink before he saw two buttons floating in mid air. One with the option of _'Yes, I'd like to stay a part of the England Faction.'_ whilst the other read_ 'No, I'd like to choose for myself.'_

Garret wasted no time in clicking the yes button. Darkness claimed him for a few moments before the voice rang out again and the darkness was illuminated by a massive pedestal and a massive, floating holographic figure of a bald, naked avatar.

"_This is the character creation screen! To allow your creative side to run wild, we allow a range of options for character creation for MAO including your starting clothing! Please choose your character's appearance or simply allow the NerveGear to read yours as a base template!"_

The two buttons appeared in front of the teen again, with the options being _'Yes, use my real life appearance as a template.'_ and_ 'No, I will make my own character.'_ This time Garret paused, glancing between the two buttons before finally clicking the yes option. Darkness, yet again, enveloped the room for a few moments and the voice rang out. _"Please wait whilst the NerveGear reads your appearance. If you are wondering how, please go to the supp_ort website and read the document linked with 'Appearance templates' or alternatively read reports of the Sword Art Online incident. But now, it is done!"

The darkness dissipated to reveal a massive, holographic Garret floating in mid air with his arms and legs stretched out. It wouldn't have been so bad were he not stark naked on the pedestal. "What's your avatar's name?"

A keypad and entry box appeared infront of Garret and he typed in the name he had spent weeks and weeks preparing.

'Hawke'

He had searched day and night for the name that he would use after his Dad told him about his 'surprise' birthday present. He searched naming websites, asked around at the school and even gone so far as to ask his mum what they intended to name his little sibling in the waiting. No reply, as expected, but it had led him to the answer! 'Hawke'. His dad had named him after a video game character from when he was younger... This character doing things he wished he could have done but it was still an awesome name! Why not use it here?

_"Welcome Hawke! You are the *FIRST* user to use this name apart of the English faction. Congratulations! You shall be given a bonus item upon entry which will allow you to scribe your name onto objects that you possess. Now, choose your starting clothing."_

Immediately a holographic table appeared before him and different clothing ranging from 'Novice Swordsman's clothing' to 'Novice Mage's robes' and even 'Novice Courtesan's outfit'. But none of these interested him until he found it... 'Novice Ranger's Outfit' - The outfit consisting of a sleeveless green hoodie with no pockets at the front and revealing your character's arms accompanied by a quiver starting off with ten arrows and a longbow. The trousers were brown and looked slightly rugged but what was most interesting was the gear listed with the 'Ranger's starting gear'.

1 x Sleeveless green hooded vest.  
1 x Brown rugged trousers.  
1 x Rugged boots  
1 x Quiver  
5 x Arrows  
1 x Longbow  
1 x Hunting Knife  
1 x Storage sack INCLUDING - Finger Guard, arm guards, raw chicken, flint and tinder  
1 x Compass  
1 x Map  
1 x Journal  
1 x Beginner's Guide to Rangers: So you wanna be a Ranger?  
1 x Travelling Kit INCLUDING - Cooking kit, campfire kit

_'Are you sure you wish to proceed?'_

Yes.

_"Character customisation complete. Synchronising starting character stats with player. Sync complete. Player 'Hawke' will now be transported to one of the starting English towns. We hope you enjoy your time playing MAO, Hawke."_

Garret had a moment to register what had been said before he was wrenched again from the starting room and teleported in a flash of light, clothes appeared on his body that were certainly not his own whilst he felt his arms and back suddenly become stronger as if he had spent a while training them. Only slightly stronger I mean... He did use the bow in real life as a pass time! It was great, going out to hunt with a shortbow but he hadn't quite advanced yet to the longbow but now... This opportunity was too great!

"Yo there newbie!"

Garret blinked once, then twice as the sound of seagulls entered his ears and the smell of salt filled his nostrils. In front of him was a burly man with a short beard and wisps of grey hair but covered in thick grey chainmail you'd expect to find a soldier of the kingdom wearing. The symbol of England, the red cross on the white rectangle background. However, on his single shoulderpad located on his right shoulder was another symbol this time of a white sword with white flames coming off of it on a black background. The man had a sword sheathed at his side and a little green diamond that floated above his head if you stared at the space long enough. "Yo, you alive?"

"Huh... Yea. Nice to meet you!"

"Heheh! You're the first one not to snap at me for startling ya! For that, I'll give you my name. Call me Sori! Or Sorry, depending on if you want to be a smart ass or not!"

"Uh, nice to meet you Sori. I'm Hawke." Hawke extended a hand, still exposed to the sun that was beating down on the two of them and Sori took it in his own. The sound of his armour clinking merrily echoed for a few moments as they shook hands. "Uh... Why were you waiting for me?"

"I'm a member of the Order of the White Sword - We're the guild that is currently in charge of His majesty's country."

"In charge...?"

"Mate, I'll explain on the condition we go to the local Inn."

Hawke glanced around and realised that they were, in fact, standing in the middle of a small village. The village itself seemed to be complete with blacksmith, fletcher's workshop, alchemy store, mage's tower, Inn, a pier and a small bunkhouse that had the same guild emblem emblazoned on a sign outside that swung merrily in the wind. A few other people walked about, some by themselves and wearing civilian clothing whilst others walked around in starting gear or the same armour as Sori.

But it only took the young man a few moments to realise Sori was already making a Beeline for the Inn and he had to quickly catch up to the man who had already made it to the front door by the time the would-be Ranger caught up. "You... You must have a high agility stat."

"Nah, not really. Just the call of the Inn."

The door was swung open and the sound of glasses clinking and the chuckling of friends sharing a private joke was shared with the world. The interior of the Inn was small, with a few tables scattered around already filled with people; most of them wearing the same armour as Sori and talking merrily. "Oi, the Sorry sod returns!"

A woman behind the bar waved over to Sori with a smile crossing her features before her eyes fixed on the man with the green hood drawn up and the bow slung over his back. A quiver was bouncing against his side and it didn't take a genius to figure out what kind of person this guy was. The effect was almost immediate as people registered Sori with smiles... And then Hawke with eyes suddenly filled with distaste. What had he done?

"Alright, calm your tits lads! He's just a new spawn! Go back to your drinks!" Sori shouted, earning a few mumbles from the men at the tables before Sori crossed the room to the counter with Hawke close in toe. The woman behind the bar stared at Sori before turning her gaze on the young man.

"Who's he?"

"As I said, new spawn. 'is name's Hawke."

Hawke gave the woman a courteous bow, not going quite far enough down to be ass kissing but far enough down to be considered respectful. "How do you do?"

"Huh, nice kid. I'm Angelica, I run the bar here in Quay. You a fresh spawn?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Cut the ma'am crap, I'm the barkeep not the bloody queen." Angelica snapped, brushing strand of golden hair out of her face and sliding it behind her ear with the rest. Her face was framed perfectly, all of her hair drawn back in a pony tail whilst two bangs constantly escaped to frame her face. She to had the green diamond if you stared long enough. Angelica wore your average peasant's outfit, a worn looking dress which didn't go above her chest so the tops of her breasts were revealed with only two straps holding the dress up.

"Okay... Angelica."

"So what's the deal kid? Why're you wearing the outfit of a Ranger?"

"Is it against the law or something?" Worry was already laced in his voice that he might be executed for wearing clothes. People had been killed for lesser things.

"Not exactly, Hawke." Sori replied, shooting Angelica something of a dirty look before continuing. "There was a coup a while back. Perhaps a month or so ago where the Ranger's Guild tried to take power - They waged a brutal, bloody conflict against the current ruling Guild but lost due to sheer overwhelming numbers. Since then, any and all new Rangers or would be Rangers are either told not to continue with their chosen path or have to swear loyalty to the king. That, and any Ranger's Guild has to get the authorisation of the King himself."

"And the king isn't eager for another coup." Added Angelica, shooting Hawke a look conveying mixed emotions whilst the young, black haired teen simply paused a moment to register what was going on. Rangers were practically outlaws after some failed coup and were forced to swear loyalty to the King. But perhaps...

"Hey Sori, what'd I have to go through to set up a new Ranger's Guild?"

The man stared at Hawke for a few moments before bursting out with laughter, slamming his fist onto the wooden counter; earning a crack and sending a few splinters flying. "Kid, you'd have to be wearing decent gear and have at least four other Rangers to side with ya! Where you gonna find em?"

'At least he isn't downright denying the idea of a Ranger's Guild' Hawke thought, sighing heavily whilst giving Sori a pleading look. "Any fletcher in town or tanner in town?"

"Yea, over in the workshop. We call him 'Fletch' since he couldn't be assed to give himself a proper name." Sori answered, the soldier giving Hawke a small smile. The kid was serious about being a Ranger then. The guild? Pfft, that was a long way away.

"Thanks Sori... Anywhere I can get supplies?"

"Here, since the marketplace deals with weapons, armour, potions and the lot you can get anything else here. Just ask Angelica nicely and she wont raise the price on the account of you being a would be Ranger; aye Angelica?"

"Aye..." The woman replied, still sizing up Hawke for a few more moments before shrugging. "... Fine, what'd you need?"

"Nothing thanks. I'll try and keep out of town and stay out of the way of everyone." Angelica and Sori both stared at Hawke for a few moments like he was on drugs before the latter shrugged.

"Ok... Word of advice mate. By the end of the week, I'll have gathered a group and we're obliged to take you to Albion to swear loyalty to the King and his consorts."

"Consorts?" Hawke looked puzzled for a few moments.

"The King has his own personal sex toys who double up as advisers." Angelica clarified, shooting Sori a sly look as the man huffed.

"They're nice enough."

"When they want something." Angelica added with the sly grin still on her face. "So Hawke, I'll be seeing you throughout the week when you come in with the horde of pelts you'll be bringing me, aye? I'll pay extra if they're in good condition."

Hawke started, lost in though about tracking down the Rangers in England before nodding. "Sure... If any are left over from my crafting, you'll get them."

"No scraps, I want the full pelt or nothing at all. Some meat wouldn't go to waste either."

"Oh Hawke!" Sori interrupted, his eyes now fixed back on the fresh spawn. "In this, you need to eat and drink like you do in real life so if you start feeling thirsty or hungry - Eat. You can die of dehydration or starvation in this like in reality. Horrible way to go, even in a game."

"Okay... Anything else I need to know?"

"Yea, watch for the bandits across the river. Mix of NPCs and players but either way they're dangerous so stay at a distance. Oh and if you see a King's patrol... Stay away. Far away."

"Why?" Hawke tilted his head, imagining a group of men on horseback coming down a road towards him.

"Because they're obliged, like me, to take any folk who even resemble Rangers straight to Albion. No questions asked."

"Sound like some nice people."

"Aye, they're lovely but pieces of shit if you rile them up. Now get out there kiddo! You got some stats to raise and a reputation to fix!"

"Yea! Thanks for everything Sori!"

"No problem kid, now get going."

Hawke nodded to Sori, clasping the man's hand once more before giving both him and Angelica a wide smile before disappearing from the Inn in a whirl of green.

"Why didn't you tell him about the Ranger's magic?" Angelica asked idly, picking up a glass from behind the counter and cleaning it out.

"Because the kid will probably find it sooner or later."

"What's your money on? How long do you reckon this kid'll survive?"

"Hmm... He's nice, polite and respects you proper if you show him kindness. I reckon he's got something under that layer of calmness and politeness..."

"Devils run a muck when good men go to war."

* * *

"Thanks!" Garret hoped off the bus in the school's bus stop and immediately made his way to the 'sixth form' building whilst completely ignoring the smaller students around him stuck in the normal uniform on the school. The previous afternoon and evening Garret had spent in MAO, hunting in the forest close to the village and following Sori's instructions by not crossing the river. The wolves were relatively strong for a starting area and could easily take down someone who was unaware of their presence but they didn't prove much trouble for the young Ranger. That didn't stop him from collecting the pelts of every wolf he killed, cutting up their corpses for meat and feeling satisfied when he only failed to successfully skin two of the ten wolves he killed.

But now, he strode into the main building of Sixth form was a smile on his lips and his one strap bag bouncing away on his back. His clothes were pitch black, from his black sleeveless vest to his long trousers. Garret's arms were covered by a full sleeved black shirt that was soft to the touch on the inside whilst his feet were clad in boots that people didn't normally wear to school buttttttt... He did.

"Yo! Garret!" Garret looked over to one of the corners of the entrance to find one of his friends, a boy who had much the same taste in clothing as he did but instead he wore blue jeans with a red under shirt and normal shoes. Garret wandered over to his friends, doing the traditional fist bump and earning a smile.

"So how was it?"

"Amazing! The people were nice, and I even managed to make a friend."

Garret sat down in one of the two comfy chairs him and his friend usually occupied in their free periods, either doing work or chatting away about something or another. "Cool! So Garret, I was wondering - You gonna get your ass to Albion soon?"

Garret chuckled at his brown haired friend, glancing into his hazel eyes for a moment before shaking his head. "I gotta train up so I can make a request of the king!"

"Are you serious? A day into the game and you already want to make a request to -THE- King of England?"

Garret nodded once before stretching his arms, yawning widely. "But you're a Knight in that guild, aren't you?"

"A squire, idiot! I can't do anything big or I'll be demoted. All I can do is recommend to my tutors that you're a good person."

"Cheers Rolan, you're the man." The two bumped fists again but they stopped in the tracks of the conversation when a familiar chill set upon their spines and they looked up into the blue eyes of one of their only other friends.

"H-Hey C-Celia." Rolan managed to mutter out as the girl with blue hair stared down at the two of them, her own bag slung over her shoulders whilst her body was covered in a tank top and trousers. She was perhaps one of the most tomboyish girls ever but she was still a girl... And scary as hell.

"Rolan. Garret." She said coolly, the chill spreading down their spines before a wide smile broke out across her face and she tilted her head, sticking out her tongue. "God you two are such scared y cats! So Garret, you get it?"

"Yep!"

"England?"

"Yep!"

"Well good! I'm an Ice Magister of the Royal Court by the way so uh... You know. If you need any help or get into trouble then I can help out." Indeed, Celia was one of the Magisters of the English royal court in the game. She was the first out of their circle of friends to start playing it and the one who managed to get most of them into their positions but she was all too happy to. Their group of friends had been together for five years and had been through thick and thin - They weren't gonna stop now.

"Celia, Rolan - Why'd neither of you tell me about the Ranger crisis?" The thought had struck Garret and he had begun to wonder in the space of a minute why his friends had kept this key piece of information from him. Rolan and Celia sighed before the former patted his friend reassuringly on the shoulder.

"Because we knew you'd ignore us and just go ahead with being a Ranger anyway. Besides, Celia was there at the time of the Ranger crisis; right Cel?"

"Yea... Bloody gits. Good fighters, tough to handle but interesting to fight... Froze a few and keep them as trophies now with the promise of release." Celia chuckled darkly, causing another shiver to run up the two boys' spines.

"So, we got ourselves the Ice Magister of Albion, the Squire... Where's our Healer?"

"Here!"

The three of them turned to their right and saw a girl with a large bust running towards them. The boys had their eyes fixed on the bouncing and were only snapped out of it when they received sharp slaps to the backs of their heads. The 'healer' had long blonde hair that stretched past her shoulder blades accompanied by a pair of kind amber eyes. Her face was good natured and had two bangs hanging either side of her face that framed it perfectly, almost identical to the Innkeeper's but this girl didn't bother trying to restrain her hair.

"Ah! Marian! Where have you been?" Celia asked, giving her friend a tight hug and squishing her smaller bust against Marian's larger ones.

"Just got here! Dad insisted I take an extra packed lunch for Corina!"

"Who's Corina?" The male members asked together, before their eyes finally settled on the girl who was trailing behind Marian. She had black hair accompanied by amber eyes, the only linking factor between her and Marian, whilst her clothing was similar to Garret.

"Corina is my cousin! But her uh... Parents are having problems so she's staying with us for a while!" Celia declared, smiling widely and almost dragging her cousin forward to meet the group. Corina, to her credit, didn't resist but she didn't look all to happy about being pulled forward to meet people and even looked like she would disappear in a flash of light should she be given the opportunity. "Corina! This is Celia."

"Hi..." Corina muttered, her voice betraying the inner desire to flee more then her body language was.

"Hey there! Nice to meet you!" Celia declared loudly, attracting a few irritated looks from other people in the scattered room.

"This is Rolan." Marin pointed to Rolan, who gave the nervous girl a small wave of his hand before returning it to the arm of his chair.

"And this is Garret! But sometimes we call him Gary or Hawke!" Corina looked nervously up at Garret, who was still sat down.

"Hey, nice to meet you. Don't worry, we're not as scary as we look." Hawke tried to give Corina a big smile but only accomplished an honest one. The effect was a desired one, the girl visibly looking like she didn't want to run anymore before something clicked in Marian's head.

"Oh yea, she also plays MAO!"

"Really? What do you play as Corina?"

Corina now looked a lot more comfortable, visibly relaxed and even released from Marian's grip she looked like she wanted to stay. "I play as a Druid. I can shapeshift and use nature magic to kill and heal."

There were a few moments of silence as the information was digested before a wide, collective smile was shared. "That's awesome!"

* * *

**Hey guys! This is just me making another OC centric story set in the SAO universe. I will wait a bit before I add more chapters to receive some responses and see how things are going with this story. If you're interested in this, please leave a favourite/follow or a review!**


	2. Chapter 2 - Druids and Rangers

**Medieval Ages Online **

**Chapter 2 - Druids and Rangers**

"Garret, have you done all your homework?"

"Yea mum!"

Garret closed the door to his room with a huff, grinning slightly as he dropped his one strap bag onto his swivel chair. He had just returned home after his day at school, talking with Rolan, Celia, Marian and Corina. They learned Corina was also apart of the English faction after making the manual choice when, in reality, she was from Scotland. Even though it wouldn't have made much of a difference since, as Rolan put it, 'The United Kingdom has been formed in the game, with Ireland included. Just with a different way of running things.'

Yea, a different way was one way to put it when in reality they were still all separate just a joint treasury, non aggression pacts - You name it, they had it. The words of his friends echoed through his mind as Garret slid the NerveGear onto his head, shutting his eyes.

_'We'll meet you in Quay at Six! Don't be late since We'll be teleporting after meeting in Albion and then we'll help you improve your stats!' _Were the words that Celia had parted with. Teleporting apparently took a lot of mana so they needed time to prepare, leaving Garret with two hours after he got home to work and then go straight online.

"Link start."

The sensation hit him again of being yanked from the real world and taken into the virtual one and, as he was transported, he could immediately feel the change of clothing as he came closer to the destination. A few seconds later he was dropped gently into the tree he had logged off in, a still smouldering fire pit beneath him and a trail of smoke leading off into the distance.

Hawke pulled himself to his feet on the branch, moving into a crouched position as he became accustomed to the clothes and the body. His clothing had changed slightly, his arms now wrapped in tight furs whilst the main body of his clothing was also wrapped in a few furs around the mid chest area and the stomach. It wasn't an altogether pleasant feeling since they were wrapped quite tightly but it would protect him in the long run so he couldn't complain as the Ranger dropped to the ground with a dull thud and almost immediately setting off at a paced run towards the village.

A few travellers along the road glanced his way as they made their way in the opposite direction, shrugging at the sight of the green figure and whispering darkly about the attempted coup before crossing their hearts 'God save the king'.

The Ranger ran past Sori, giving the Guardsman a quick wave as he practically flew past him. The wave was returned with a shout of "Slow down! You're gonna hit someone!"

Dismissing the comment, the Ranger kept in his sprint only to find himself sailing through the air with something soft and squishy beneath him. OOPH! A dull pain came to life across his body and his health bar in the top left hand corner of his vision blinked at him to indicate some damage might have been taken.

A few seconds of frenzied blinking and he opened his eyes to find a pair of beautiful, amber orbs staring right back at him. The woman squealed loudly, landing a solid punch in his stomach and sending him flying off of her and onto the roof of the Inn. "She's... Got a... Good... Punch..." Hawke managed to breath out, sliding off of the roof and landing with a dull thud echoing across the square. He was twitching violently, 'Who can punch that well... Oo... My stomach...'

But it wasn't long until he found something cold touching the back of his neck, pressing into the material there and an authoritative voice booming at him. "Who are you, pervert! To think someone would grab my friend's... Chest area without permission! I'd slay you right now if we weren't in a town!"

Hawke managed to let out another groan, rolling over to stare up into the hazel eyes of the man whilst trying to ignore his brown hair cut to stay on his head. His armour was very similar to Sori's except he had both of his shoulder pads and his sword looked shinier; or maybe it was just the light?

"What's the problem here, Justice?"

Hawke murmured something as another woman entered his field of vision, this time with long blue hair swept into a pony tail that hugged her back tightly whilst her body was completely covered by a light blue robe, embossed with ice shards at the hem. The woman, who walked with a large staff already in hand that held a turquoise gem at the top clutched in between two dragon heads, stared down at the Ranger with distaste etched into her face.

"Oh, a Ranger... Pfft."

"Not just that, he touched Gaia's breast!"

The woman raised a quizzical brow, glancing back down at the Ranger who was still lying on the ground without a care in the world. "Is this true, Ranger?"

But even now before he could answer he saw two more people enter his vision. One was a woman with long, blonde hair and a pair of amber eyes with a very large bust and wearing pearly white robes that gave the impression she was a healer. That mixed in with the red cross on the front of her robes confirmed the assumption. "Does he need healing?"

The second was a woman who looked even more rugged then the others and was on bar in the dirtiness area with Hawke. She was wearing a haphazardly put together outfit that consisted on a mix and match of animal skins and feathers from an assortment of birds meaning most of her skin was revealed including the interior of her cleavage and most of her stomach. A staff made from oak was slung across her back by a piece of leather and her black hair trailed down her front and back; adding to the wild look. What was even more interesting were the tribal tattoos located across her body including: A crow located on her neck, a fox located on her foot, a bear located on her chest, a stag located on her forehead surrounded by branches and finally the image of a sun on her left breast on the inside and the image of a crescent moon on her right breas-

SMACK!

"How dare you look at Gaia's breasts after you man handled them you swine!"

Hawke received a sharp punch to the back of the head, forcing him to the floor. Of course, in a town or city you were safe from losing health but you still felt the concussive force of a blow so even then you could be knocked off a tower and fall to your death.

"Justice, calm yourself. Let the Ranger speak."

Hawke slowly began to climb to his feet, dusting off his front of residual dirt and dust before turning to the blue haired woman with a half hearted smile mixed in with an irritated expression. "Firstly, I'm a nice person. Secondly, I apologize for running into your friend. Third, YOU WANNA GO SOLDIER BOY?!"

Hawke glared at Justice, receiving a glare in return and the two practically clashed at the foreheads; pressing into one another and causing a spark to erupt between their eyes. "Oh I've waited a long time to kick a Ranger's ass!"

"Lads, stop it." But the two ignored the woman who was now emitting an icy aura. Now that Hawke was on his feet he managed to see the same emblem that Sori had on Justice's shoulder pads. And even then, the woman appeared to have the same emblem on the corner of her robe and even the healer had a smaller version within the red cross. The last woman did not have the emblem and Hawke was quietly relieved that she might stick up for him... Bar the fact he had groped her accidentally mere moments ago.

"You wanna go, idiot?"

"I don't know, can you go newbie?"

"BOYS. STOP IT." The woman slammed her staff onto the ground, sending out a wave of cold air and a thin sheet of ice spread quickly from the point of contact, expanding rapidly and reaching a three meter radius around the ice mage.

Needless to say the argument was ceased before it escalated into a full blown fight but that didn't stop the two shooting dirty looks at one another. "Justice, remember we are here to meet our friend's avatar. A Ranger... Hey there, you haven't happened to have met a newbie Ranger? Probably wearing the Ranger starting gear."

"Haven't seen any but I am meant to be meeting my friends here... Oh you've got to be kidding me. Is that you guys?"

"… You've got to be kidding me." Justice muttered, poking his friend in the side before letting out a loud laugh before slapping said friend on the back. "You git! Why didn't you say it was you?"

Hawke didn't give his friend a reply, shooting Justice a glare fit for a king before returning his gaze to the Ice witch. "So you're..."

"Call me Aneira Ice... But the other nobles simply call me 'Magister Ice'."

Justice sniggered, leaning in and whispering into the Ranger's ear. "Everyone else calls her the Ice Queen of England."

Hawke glanced at his friends, surveying the group and receiving a wide smile from the Healer. "Hey Gaa- What is your name in this?"

"Hawke."

"Well call me Altha! I'm the Healer and one of the clerics of the Order of the White Sword - Templar division!"

"Templar division?"

"We're responsible for keeping magical and holy order in England and her closest allies! If a Mage decides to go rogue, it's our responsibility to hunt them down."

"You make that sound like a good thing." Gaia muttered, catching the eyes of the other three and immediately blushing heavily.

"And this is Gaia! You met her today..."

"… I'm a Druid. I talk to nature and ask it to help me in combat and healing. I can also shape shift into different animals."

Gaia blushed deeper when Hawke turned his eyes on her, scanning her body up and down once more before offering her a small smile. "I look forward to traveling with you."

"...Yea..." She managed to stutter out, avoiding eye contact with him and staring at a particularly interesting pebble lying on the ground.

Well, this is going to be fun.

* * *

"Wait, what?"

Hawke's eyes jumped between Gaia and Aneira, as Aneira finished explaining something and the latter face palmed. "You may be a Ranger but you're still an idiot. Have you even read the beginner's guide?"

"I was going to before I logged off tonight." Hawke muttered and he couldn't help but give his friend a reproachful look. Justice chuckled lightly whilst Altha giggled. Gaia just remained silent, swirling around the contents of her cup.

The five of them were sitting in the Inn and had immediately found themselves in the corner table partly because it was one of the nicer spots and partly because there were barely any tables that could fit more than four people. The rest of the tables were mostly occupied by practically the same men and women as yesterday, clad in chainmail with the same emblem on a shoulder pad as Sori and Justice. There were, of course, a few other people in the tavern but they just appeared to be a few other newbies wearing the starting gear.

"Well, if you had read it you'll have learnt that your stereotypical Ranger uses Magic."

Hawke spat out some of the water he had just taken a sip from, spraying it at Justice who yelled indignantly. "Hey!" But Hawke ignored the outburst, staring at Aneira for a few more moments.

"What kind of magic?"

SMACK!

"OW!"

"YOU'RE AN IDIOT!"

The Ranger raised a hand defensively as Aneira threatened to bring her hand down again on the top of his head as a calm voice interrupted them. "Nature magic."

Both of them turned to look at Gaia, who was still swirling her drink around in the cup but now had her amber eyes trained on Hawke like he was perhaps the most interesting thing in Europe. "Did you not know?"

Hawke shook his head whilst on the inside he was feeling particularly awkward as Aneira sighed dramatically. "Rangers are considered over powered since your average Ranger can practically defeat anyone in one on one combat."

The Ranger stared at Aneira as the latter shot him a look in return. It wasn't a friendly look or even a playful look. More of irritation and perhaps anger? Why was she angry at him! They all knew he loved Archery ever since he was a little kid and his Dad talked about the men who wore green cloaks and were the best at what they did!

"I'll train you in nature spells and maybe a transformation. Tell me, what tattoo do you have?"

"Huh?"

Gaia took her hand away from her glass, slapping it hard into her face before pointing to her neck; directly at the crow. "Your tattoo depicts the animal you can shape shift into. My first animal was the crow but I had to travel around to gather the others."

"Magical tattoos... Cool." Hawke muttered, staring at the crow intently. As much as his eyes were screaming to admire the other tattoos his brain told him no no no. Call it a gut feeling or just common sense but he could practically feel Justice's eyes on him as if he was waiting for the Ranger's eyes to move.

Don't look. Don't look. Don't look.

"Yea... They are pretty cool. That's a thought, would you mind following me?"

"Uh... Ok?" Gaia immediately stood from the table, picking up her staff which had been lent against the table and preparing to move off; her eyes fixed on the Ranger. Hawke just stared for a few moments, shrugging and standing up as well. The chair creaked slightly and the others just gave the two mixed looks.

"See you later mate! We'll try and find some resources for you to use or just go on some patrols!" Justice waved at the Druid and Ranger as they moved away from the table. The Ranger returned the wave, a smile creeping across his face whilst his eyes twinkled in the shadows cast from his hood. The Druid however didn't react, leading the way... Across the bar and up the stairs?

"Where'd you think they're going?" Justice asked no one in particular.

"Two possibilities." Aneira began, picking up her glass. "One: Going to find his tattoo. Or two: Helping him improve his endurance stat."

"Help him improve his... Endurance..."

"Lucky bastard."

* * *

"Gaia, why are we going up here?" Hawke asked as the two ascended the stars to the next floor of the Inn before going through a door onto a thin corridor.

"We're going to the room I've rented here."

The Ranger blushed heavily, raising a hand to scratch the back of his head as the two walked down the corridor and Gaia pulled out a key from within the feathers covering her right shoulder. "Uhhh... Why?"

The Druid didn't answer as she slotted the key into the large, wooden door; the kind you'd expect to find in an old castle or home. She turned the key, pushing open the door and entering the room to reveal a double bed, wardrobe, washing basin and a small mirror placed on top of a simple wooden table. The walls were brown and mostly made of wood whilst the floor was the same but this wasn't what distracted the Ranger. It was the fact that Gaia had now turned to him and was staring him up and down.

"Strip."

Hawke shut his eyes tightly, muttering a small prayer that you'd expect a teenage boy to make. 'Cheers lord or higher being for this chance but... don't ya thank it's a bit too early?'

"Hawke, I need you to strip for me."

A small trickle of blood fell from the Ranger's nose and escaped across his lips and just about reached his chin before he raised a finger to stop it. "Don't you think it's a bit too soon for that kind of thing?"

Gaia blushed, raising her hands and quickly hiding her face from view. "No you idiot! I meant... GAH! We need to find your tattoo so we can begin practising!"

"But... What's the advantage of shapeshifting?"

The room suddenly went dead silent. Gaia's hands parted slowly to reveal a dark glare directed straight at the Ranger whilst the rest of her face conveyed a strong amount of killing intent. "What do you mean? Isn't it OBVIOUS?!"

Hawke slowly pondered for a moment, trying to avoid looking directly into the Druid's eyes and backing up against the door whilst thinking about it. It'd be pretty cool to transform into a bird and fly around... Or a wolf and run through the forest! That'd be pretty badass actually...

"Uh... Now I can?"

"Good!" The killing intent disappeared in an instant and the glare was replaced by a kind look as she pointed at his top. "Off."

* * *

"HEY! YOU HAVE COLD HANDS!"

"Calm your balls, Hawke. Sometimes the tattoo needs to be revealed by magic but not always..."

Hawke was standing in what could be considered his underwear, a small piece of linen covering his front and back whilst Gaia was moving a hand over his body. the hand was glowing on the palm with a dull green light but it didn't change the fact her hand was cold. Or maybe that was the glow? But whatever it was she had moved her hand over his chest, her hand lingering for a few more moments then necessary before moving onto his legs and she was now feeling her way down his arrow arm.

Hawke felt the heat rushing to his cheeks as the Druid felt his arm thoroughly, pressing it firmly against his arm almost in a lock that would have been hard to break out from. "Hmm..."

"Hm? That doesn't sound like a good hm."

"I just said 'Hm' Hawke. Not 'Oh no, what could possibly go wrong?' so don't worry."

"I'm not worrying... You've just been feeling my up for the past ten minutes so why should I be worried?"

"Testy." Gaia muttered, gripping his hand firmly for a moment before sighing and trailing it back up his arm and moving onto his back.

Shuddering lightly, Hawke tried to glance over his shoulder but soon found a glowing hand in his face causing him to yell in surprise. This yell soon turned into a scream of pain as he felt something burning over his eye whilst, at the same time, the area between his shoulder blades began to burn as well.

He tried to break free from the Druid's grip but she was holding on with a grip worthy of a face huger and soon found himself lying face forward on the bed with his face and back burning whilst something sat on top of him; presumably Gaia.

"Get it together, Hawke!" Gaia yelled at him and the sound of her voice was mixed in with the sound of a soft bleeping and on the edge of his vision a small notification appeared, followed by another; each of them stating the same.

_'Your endurance has increased!'_

_'Your endurance has increased!'_

One after the other they appeared and, before long, the pain began to subside and the burning was replaced by the familiar feeling of the cold hands. "Can you... Can you get this hand off my face?"

The cold feeling from her hand disappeared slowly and he felt the weight disappear from his back, the floorboards creaking as she moved across the room. It became fainter for a moment, before becoming louder as she returned and jabbed the Ranger in the back with her cold finger. It was somewhat relaxing and cooling as he could feel his skin still tingling from the after effects of... Whatever it was.

"Look."

Hawke raised his head slowly and stared into the mirror that was practically thrust into his face. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust and then he saw his own reflection. Black hair? Check. His eyes were still there... BUT WHAT THE...

Across his face, practically imprinted on it, was a hawk. The head of the hawk on his forehead whilst the wings stretched out across his cheeks with the tops of each wing finishing just past his eyes whilst the main body of the wings covered his eyes. The tail end finished just before his chin. It was quite impressive, it being completely black and covering most of his face in a burn mark style fashion even though there were no rough edges... It was perfect. Completely perfect.

"Now check your back."

Obligingly, Hawke moved the mirror lower and around himself so he could look back and stare into the reflection. His back looked relatively the sam- Oh wait, no it didn't.

Across his back was the massive image of a wolf howling, stretching from below one shoulder blade and crossing to the other. It would look impressive if it hadn't been burnt into his skin. Gaia stood by the side of the bed as he sat up on his knees, the Druid staring at him with a mixture of concern and curiosity written into her face.

"So, what do these mean?"

Gaia cleared her throat before diving in, head first. Or hands first. "The hawk on your face means that, without transforming, you have keen eyes. You can also transform into a hawk and the transformation will start with your eyes and head. The wolf howling on your back means something similar however it simply means that you will be slightly faster whilst the transformation to turn into a wolf will start on your back."

"I thought you said there'd only be one tattoo?"

"I didn't specify the amount of tattoos. I just said there'd be a tattoo."

"So is this normal?"

"For more then one tattoo?" Gaia asked, taking the mirror off of him and taking it back to the table whilst the Ranger stood up from the bed and began to equip his clothes again by activating a scroll down menu and equipping them. Of course, he could have just put them on by picking them up but where was the fun in that?

Hawke nodded.

"Pretty normal for at least one for people who start off with the Druid or Ranger starting gear. Others have to hunt for the tattoos and have them burned onto them OR have a Ranger or Druid give them theirs. Naturally, the latter is unlikely to happen but it still does. But this way, you don't have to wait for your tattoos to emerge by themselves and instead I can train you in shapeshifting and the most basic nature spell."

"What spell would that be?"

"Entangling roots."


	3. Chapter 3 - The Guild

**Medieval Ages Online**

**Chapter 3 - The Guild**

_**-Five days till the departure to Albion-**_

_'It is the wisdom not to use power that makes you worthy to use it' _

_- Garret Hawke, Dragon Age 2_

"And then I said, 'She spends her times making poisons. And cake... Tell me you didn't try the cake?"

"How many times are you gonna say that joke, dad?"

Garret was sitting on a stool at the kitchen table right next to his dad whilst both of them ate pieces of toast. The room itself was a pearly white and pretty clean. Mum had told him about the fact that when he was in his teens, dad had been one of the most untidy people you could think of but when he went to University he went through a massive change. That and the fact that his father had travelled the world as a paleontologist before finally returning back to England to marry the girl of his dreams and settle down; taking a job with computer programming.

But even then, his dad had taken on the mantle of best computer programmer in the region and when there were problems with NerveGear or anything computer related then he would be called out to help. So you can imagine he had actually logged a few days of game time on multiple games and he even brought out his old gaming console and showed my where my name stake came from.

_'The Champion of Kirkwall.' _

Only his dad could think naming a child after a game character would be awesome.

"As many times as I need to before you start saying it, son. How was your session last night?"

Garret was silent with his response, thinking back to the previous night and remembering what had happened and how rough Gaia had been with her teaching. She was soft and could be sweet at times but she was a strict taskmistress and didn't allow him any rest. He could have sworn his endurance stat had a sharp increase during the training whilst his agility and intelligence rose along with it. It was quite satisfying but afterwards he had to go out and hunt some more before returning to the grind that was learning nature magic and shape shifting.

The latter being an ability which was oddly easy to use but with dramatic effects since your perspective and overall feeling just changed instantly. Imagine being Human one moment and then suddenly your face started to slowly change, the bones adjusting and a beak growing out of it whilst the rest of your body suddenly sprouted feathers until your entire structure had changed so you were a massive, human sized hawk. And then learning to fly. Oh, and that was considered normal.

"Great, I learned shape shifting and a simple nature spell."

"How's the Ranger situation?"

Garret shrugged, taking another bite from his toast and chewing for a few moments. He swallowed, pausing for another moment before answering. "It's still a problem. I've got to go meet the king in five days in the capital city of Albion AND THEN I need to find some Rangers and reform the English Ranger's Guild."

"Looks like you got your work cut out for you son."

The son could help but chuckle at his father's words, taking a sip from his orange juice before staring at his father for a few moments. That's one of the things he loved about him. He wouldn't continuously ask about school work or bring it up after they'd been talking about gaming and if they were going to have a conversation it would be about games or archery or something they both enjoyed and not something that was a reminder about schoolwork. His father had been a teen to once. "Yea I do. Don't you have a character on MAO?"

"A few months ago. Someone asked me to go on it and help them out so I accepted but I need to repair my NerveGear after it experienced some technical difficulties." In other words, mum had gotten her hands on it. Dad didn't have time during the day to play since he was working but during the night he had somehow made his NerveGear work like dreams. He would play the game in his dreams and do things consciously whilst sleeping - It was weird and Garret didn't really understand but he didn't question it. Mum had gotten tired of having to take the gear off in the mornings and had 'made sure there were technical difficulties' with making it work.

"Still broken?"

"Still broken. But I want to fix it up so I can recover the A.I inside, Shana. She must be missing me..."

"Shana?"

"The name doesn't mean anything, son. I just called her Shana."

The son and father exchanged looks for a few moments before both chuckled. "I'd love to meet her."

"Well, I could always just transfer her to your NerveGear once I've got it fixed. My old piece of kit probably won't last much longer."

"Cheers Dad!"

"GARRET?!" Both of the men jumped, turning to look at Garret's mother. She was irritated, with a spatula in one hand whilst the other seemed to be covered in blood. Or sauce. "WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE?! YOU'RE MEANT TO BE AT SCHOOL!"

"Oh sh-"

* * *

"Where the hell is Hawke? He's going to be late."

Rolan stood with his hands in his pockets and his eyes constantly wandering over to the door before returning them back to Celia who had a rather calm expression on her face but occasionally twitching with irritation. Marian and Corina were idly chatting about some new update that was due for release.

They'd all be waiting for Garret to arrive and were slowly getting more worried after the bell to get to form went and it was slowly approaching the time for first period. "We have Computing first and that idiot hasn't arrived yet!" Celia declared loudly, stomping her foot with a huff.

"I'm sure he's going to get here soon." Rolan glanced at Celia, even though he didn't look completely convinced himself.

They waited for a few more minutes, exchanging glances as they did and looking slowly more restless before they saw Garret practically break through the main entrance into the sixth form area with pellets of sweat running down his face. He immediately broke out across the room and walked straight up to his waiting friends.

Rolan gave him a small smile and a tilt of the head to ask, without words. Marian smiled widely at Garret whilst Corina blushed slightly and gave him a nod of her own. "GARRET HAWKE LANE! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!"

SMACK! SMACK!

A moment he was standing straight, sweating. The next he was curled up into a ball, clutching the top of his head and whimpering slightly as Celia stood over him with one of her fists raised dangerously. "We've been worried sick! Where the hell have you been?!"

"Uh... Celia, that's a bit much, don't you think?"

"SHUT UP ROLAN!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Celia's face was visibly twitching before she descended, grabbing Garret and pulling him into an awkward hug. Well, more like rolled him into an awkward hug as she hugged the ball that was Garret. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see you but where the hell have you been?!"

"Talking to my Dad about MAO and work," Garret muttered from the confines of his ball. The ball was safe, nice and kept him relatively secure but he felt the warmth coming from Celia and didn't bother trying to draw away. "We lost track of time and he had to drive me in."

"You could have at least texted me," Celia huffed, withdrawing her arms from around the ball; pausing a moment. A few seconds later and her phone seemingly materialized in hand with a small spin around between her thumb and index finger and staring at the screen for a few moments as a dull blush began to creep onto her cheeks. "Oh... You did."

"Yea I did!"

The school boy came out of his shelter, staring reproachfully at one of his friends before shooting Rolan a small grin. "Hey mate."

"Hey dude, sorry about that."

"No problem... Not like she spares any of us from the torture, right?"

"I think we're pushing It a bit." Both boys were grinning as they exchanged looks before turning to look at Celia who had a dangerous glint in her eyes. But a moment later the bell rang and Garret and Rolan finally understood the meaning of 'Saved by the bell'.

For the rest of the day the five of them stayed together, Corina fitting in perfectly with the rest of them almost like a jigsaw piece. However, a jigsaw with only five pieces if a very boring puzzle; no?

But needless to say, the day was spent in relatively high spirits with discussions about what their plans were for yes, you guessed it - MAO.

They sat together at lunch, in the same corner they met in during the morning and whenever they had free periods. Corina and Marian had claimed the comfy chairs before the other three arrived, the three of them resorting to sitting down next to the chairs whilst Garret stood and lent against the wall; munching on a sandwich.

"So Corina, what're your plans for MAO?" Celia asked, taking a bite out of her own sandwich whilst giving the raven haired, amber eyed girl a curious look over the sandwich.

"U-uh... I don't really have any."

Celia finished munching on the sandwich, swallowing the bite she had taken. "Surely you have some kind of plan, something to do?"

Corina shook her head slowly before glancing over at Garret who currently had his eyes fixed into nothingness giving him a dazed, almost dreamlike appearance whilst a ham sandwich was still held firmly in his grip with a single, wide bite mark. "M-maybe I could help you?"

The teen didn't reply, still staring into nothingness until he felt a sharp spike of pain in his leg and returning to reality as Celia withdrew her foot from his leg. "OW!"

"Idiot, Corina asked you a question."

"Yea... Sorry Corina I was in a world of my own. Could you repeat the question?" Garret gave the girl an apologetic smile, diverting his attention to her and trying to resist the temptation to yell out in pain again as the newly inflicted injury tinged in irritation.

"Y-you'll need help in starting up the Ranger's Guild, right? And y-you'll need a bit of help teaching others nature magic... Plus it... Might... Improve... Druid Ranger... Relations..." Corina trailed off at the end, turning her head to stare resolutely at her dark green lunchbox, that had a leafy pattern.

Garret considered the offer for a few moments before shrugging, adding a nod. "Sure! Why not? The more the merrier and a Ranger's Guild could always use a few Druids."

Corina's face lightened up as she looked back up at Garret who wore a wolfish expression on his face as he smiled. She smiled as well and the moment was pleasant until the mood was pierced. "Sorry to break up the happy moment, you two, but you may not even be allowed to start up a Ranger's Guild. You need five people to start up a guild and you need to get them to sign a guild charter AND you need to make an emblem. A Ranger's Guild will be even more difficult since the king'll force you to find four other willing Rangers and make you swear to serve the crown."

The Ranger and the Druid's faces fell for a moment before Garret just waved off the comment. "It'll be easy. All I have to do is hunt far and wide for Rangers who are willing to join a new Ranger's Guild in England."

"It wouldn't be particularly difficult," Marian intruded, giving them all one of her kind smiles. "Bare in mind that the Ranger's Guild was disbanded on bad conditions and that there are still plenty of Rangers wandering the United Kingdom. Don't forget you could bring in other Rangers from other countries since they'll already have to swear loyalty to the king being Rangers and all."

"But why would a Ranger want to come to a land where Rangers are discriminated against for being... Rangers?" Garret's face fell again, the harsh truth coming to mind but then he remembered the words of his first evening spent in MAO.

"Because in France, Italy, Greece and Spain Rangers are completely banned and considered outlaws."

"Why?"

"Because those countries have had bad experiences with them in some form or another or just don't need them and consider them a liability. Bare in mind, as a Ranger, you also are obliged to attend the Ranger gatherings - Like anyone else would for their own profession."

"So in other words, and to put it super simply - I'm going to need to hunt down all the Rangers I can and convince them to join the new guild?"

"Or you could just send them all a letter to meet you in Albion in five days." Corina pointed out, a small smile playing on the corners of her lips. Oh how amusing it would have been to let Garret go to the corners of the virtual world simply to find other Rangers when there was a roster of all known Rangers in most capitals around the world except in Russia; they just didn't care.

"Great, just great..." The would-be leader of the Ranger's guild let out a small puff of air, looking down at his sandwich and shrugging before devouring the rest of it. Looks like he wasn't going to get much training done tonight.

"Don't worry, we'll help out," Garret looked around at his friends but, more specifically, Celia who had spoken. "You're such an idiot. I'm one of the Magisters and I'm pretty sure contact can be made with foreign Rangers that we've had visiting before. Let's not forget the fact I was the one who froze some Rangers... I could, if you asked me nicely, unfreeze them."

"I get the feeling there's a catch."

"My dear Garret, there's always a catch. But it'll catch on later." The Ice Queen of Albion gave Garret a small wink, returning to munching on her own sandwich before giving him a small grin. But he knew that grin all too well.

That was the same grin he got every time she helped him with something and then the grin would disappear the moment he helped her in return. But dad had been very specific with that when he was a kid, never coddling him too much but always being within arm's reach.

_"Now son, one of the most important things I'm going to teach you is that you should never have debts. Of any kind."_

_"Why dad? Doesn't it feel good to be indebted to people?"_

_"I wouldn't know, son. If someone does something for me, I'll try and repay them as soon as possible because if you don't then they'll just consider the time you haven't done something as interest and in the end they'll ask for something big. And you might not be comfortable with that."_

_"Oh... Good point. How'd you learn this dad?"_

_"The hard way."_

* * *

_**'Dear Miss Leona, **_  
_** I am writing to you to ask of you a favour, even though we have not yet met and probably wouldn't have met. But I'll introduce myself - I'm Hawke and I have the plan of establishing a new Ranger's Guild. If you haven't already deleted this letter and forgotten about it then I shall already thank you before continuing. Rangers in England, and the other parts of the Kingdom, do not have somewhere to gather and rally to. Our reputation, tarnished. Our numbers, scattered. Ironically, this could be for the best - the last part I mean. **_

_**But back to the point... If you could be in Albion in five days time and meet me at the Lion's Head Inn then I'd be very grateful. **_

_**The fact of the matter is that this isn't some honourable call to arms. Not some ploy to gather the remaining Rangers to Albion to finally execute them. This is a letter from a wet behind the ears prat that just wants to see a Ranger's Guild re-established and for Ranger's to be respected as well as feared not for their old reputation... But for their new one.**_

_**From Hawke. **_

**"I wonder if this brat truly understand what he is getting himself into but it couldn't hurt to head there and hear him out. Your opinion, Fenris?"**

**"I'm with you 'till the end. But this... Hawke, can we trust him?"**

**"Let's find out."**

* * *

Hawke practically collapsed back onto his bed in the inn, letting out a large sigh as his back clicked loudly. He had spent the past three hours sending letters through the instant mailing service to all known Rangers in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Greece and Russia. The people he had sent the messages to were either Rangers from the roster or Rangers that his friends had encountered on their travels. Even Sori had pitched in a name of a Russian Ranger called 'Natasha'; apparently they had a history.

Some of the names of the Rangers stuck in his head.

_Leona Fly_

_Fenris Moon_

_Natasha Avilova _

_Léon Beauchene _

_Midnight Beauty_

… Who calls themselves Midnight Beauty?

But the Ranger's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Come on in, it's unlocked."

Hawke took a few moments to pull himself up, twisting himself on the spot left and then right to earn the cracks from his back again before he finally faced forward again and laid his eyes upon Aneira with her blue pony tail bouncing steadily on her back whilst her front hardly bounced at all.

"I'd smack you right now if I didn't need you conscious."

"Sorry."

A few moments of silence followed as Hawke's cheeks burned but the silence was soon filled. "I have informed his majesty about your plan, Hawke."

"And...?"

'_We're going to need the King's consent before you start gathering all the bloody Rangers in Albion. If not, he might think it's another coup._' Were the words Aneira had told him before she had sent her own letter to the King. The KING. Who can send instant messages to the King? Apparently she could.

"Well... He got back to me instantly with a message which simply said that if you were goingt o do this then I would be forced to endorse you and give you my full support. In other words..."

"If we fuck up, you fuck up?"

"Don't fuck up," Aneira warned, spinning on her heels and already beginning to open the door again. "Or I'll freeze you and throw you into the ocean."

Hawke shuddered at the thought but he couldn't help but grin. At least she never lied to him.

"I know you won't mess up, you're your dad's son after all and when has he ever messed up?" She had paused with the door in one hand and her head tilted so he could see the twinkle in her eye.

"Well, he'd say he messed up when I was born."

The Ice Queen let out a small giggle, stepping out of the room. "He has never messed up. Especially not then."With that, she left the room and closed the door behind her with a soft click.

For the next few days, Garret spent his time well. Mostly doing school work but the moment it hit six he was allowed to drop his work and head back into the game, thanks to his dad. After a conversation with mum, he had managed to convince her that even though school work was important having fun was important as well.

Hawke spent his time hunting in the woods, improving his skill to the stage where he was considered moderate and could easily hold his own in a battle against other low stat players. At long range, he was deadly. At medium range, something had gone wrong for him and at short range the new Ranger would have you trapped in roots. Sori had been preparing for the departure with a mixture of eagerness and interest apparent every time he spoke to the newbie and watched as the starter gear slowly disappeared from the kid.

His apparel had changed steadily, the green vest changing to a long sleeved, green tunic beneath a hardy leather vest. Both of these were covered by a green cloak that could wrap all the way around his body but his green hood was still present. His quiver would hang at his hip to the right whilst his longbow was kept around his shoulder by the string, which he changed every day. Admittedly, he did look more the part but should one hit him with any type of weapon from one of the better regions then he would be in for a royal ass kicking. It was aesthetically pleasing but for practical use it wasn't that good since he was still in the beginner's zone.

Rolan or rather Justice had stuck around for a day but had to be teleported back to Albion when he received a rather heated message from the Knight he served as to where he was. The same happened to Altha, receiving a similar message and had to depart alongside Justice and Aneira. Ah Aneira, the Ice Queen didn't have to leave but she chose to leaving Hawke in the very capable hands of Gaia.

* * *

"So, this is Albion?"

Two green cloaked figures stood on a hill, looking over the vast city that was Albion. Albion was located on the lowest river terrace and had a river running straight through it. The palace was right next to the river on one side alongside the high class housing and the guild halls of more noble, high class guilds. On the other side of the river was the middle class housing, market district and lower class housing.

"I guess it is... Let's find the Lion's Head Inn."

* * *

"Heh, I was expecting more from these British. This country smells like a wet dog took a dump."

"Calm your words, Léon. Or else I might have to ah... Deal with it."

Another three green cloaked figures lent on the sides of the boat, looking directly at the city that they were approaching from down the river. Two with rather large busts whilst the third was slim and was tall with his own longbow slung around him.

"I'm just saying... We're coming here to stay. Maybe the smell will go away after a while once we start cleaning up?"

"We'll see... Let's just get to the Lion's Head."


	4. Chapter 4 - Albion and Kirkwall

**Medieval Ages Online**

**Chapter 4 - Albion and Kirkwall**

_'You can't break a man the way you do a dog or a horse - the harder you beat a man, the taller he stands.' (Far Cry 2)_

**-Departure to Albion imminent-**

"Initiate the Teleportation spell!"

"Yes sir!"

The artificial sun shone bright in the sky, gracing the town with light on this pleasant day. The town itself was quite quiet except for the group of people in its centre with three figures, wearing robes that looked like they could swallow up their wearer, standing in a triangle formation and channelling some strange blue light into the ground between them. Another group stood off to the side with five men wearing chainmail, each with only a single shoulder pad with the emblem of the ruling guild emblazoned on it. These men were flanking a cloaked figure who's hood was simply lying against his back to reveal his remarkable features. A head of long, black hair that slid down his back to form a pony tail that did go down to his spine however it was covered by the cloak. His eyes were green and they were both fixed forward on the trio of figures channelling that strange energy but then his features were hidden as the figure subconsciously drew the hood up to hide his face in shadow.

On his right was a beautiful woman wearing clothes that looked mismatched but most likely came from a mixture of animals ranging from crow feathers to a bear's hide with untamed black hair the flowed like a waterfall down her back. To say she was beautiful would be way too ignorant since her beauty was untamed, wild and possibly lethal for those who stare too long. Or that was the word that had spread around Quay.

But now, the energies that had been flowing down the arms of three figures standing in a triangle suddenly erupted in a bright light, making contact in the centre and sending out a wave of blue dust that coated everything it hit to reveal a shimmering, door. Or a door was the best way to put it since it was, in reality, a hole in the fabric of space time allowing the user to walk through and reach their chosen destination in the space of a few seconds. It was impressive when you saw the door with its edges shimmering and bending slightly whilst the door itself was a mixture of blurred colours you'd expect of a city - Grey, black and some purple. Purple? Well, it was there...

"Right! You have a minute to go through before the portal collapses! Go, go, go!"

And that was it as the men around the Ranger and Druid pushed forward, forcing the two inside to do the same. As they approached the portal, two of the guards slotted between the Druid and Ranger whilst two brought up the back with Sori in the lead and then it happened.

The moment the Ranger crossed the threshold of the portal he felt like he did when you first initiated a link. The feeling of being wrenched from one place and being taken to another took him and he saw a few flashing lights fly past him and caught a glimpse of other doors around him in the empty space before he passed through another door and found himself in a wide room with purple drapes on the floor and walls with a carpet that led up to a throne set on a raised terrace. On either side of the room were terraces that weren't quite as high as the throne terrace but you had to raise your head to look at the people on them.

These people were all wearing posh, elegant looking clothing that looked like it cost a lot of gold but the most interesting part was that some of them carried weapons. Swords, maces and staves were all in their respective positions with the staves in hand like walking sticks whilst the other weapons were in scabbards or lent against the floor. The 'best' part was the lines of men on either side of the central purple carpet with all of them wearing the identical plate armour that made them look ten times bigger then they actually were. They all had the same weapon in their hands and pointed down towards the floor, that weapon being a very long and wide claymore with jewels encrusted around the hilt and the blade itself. All in all, they were very flashy with their golden armour twinkling in the light from the skylights. The hall was wide with a roof made completely from hall so 'skylights' was an understatement in hind sight but now the Ranger had to stop staring around at the awe inspiring sight as a man cleared his throat in front of the party.

His eyes turning forward, the Ranger saw the man with a small wispy beard and a scroll in hand whilst Sori and the other guards had gone off to the sides and joined the royal guardsmen. Now, Hawke had his eyes fixed forward with Gaia standing behind him and to his right. Above the man, on the throne terrace was a man sitting on a throne made of simple wood wearing a suit of armour that was clean enough to hang in a castle somewhere whilst a crown made from different precious gems sat a top his head. Flanking him were women. Just women. Women of all looks and wearing everything you could imagine but all them were on a terrace just below him not prominently so but noticeably.

"New player, we first greet you and welcome you to the Kingdom of England!" The man with the wispy beard began, reading off the scroll and sounding like he had done so many times before. "However, you have chosen a questionable career choice."

Hawke remained silent and still, his hood still drawn up to hide his face in shadows whilst his eyes twinkled slightly as they fixed on the speaker.

"There shall be a debate that begins now. Magister Ice will be defending him whilst Baron Aetharius will go against her whilst the King observes and decides on the best course of action." The man holding the scroll closed it, stepping to the side and Hawke felt a chilly but reassuring feeling as he felt someone walk up beside him. Glancing to his right he was surprised to find Aneira but Gaia had disappeared.

He couldn't ask the question that had begun to formulate on his lips as he received a subtle jab from her staff and a shake of the head before both of them faced forward as a new man took the position in front of them. This man was wearing the same outfit as the rest of the nobles but his hair was short, curly and brown whilst his blue eyes stared at Hawke with distaste. "Ranger, do you understand the position you are in?"

Now was the time to start conjuring the façade that he intended to shroud himself with... If anytime, now was the perfect opportunity. In response, he simply nodded once. Slowly and not with too much effort as if he was trying to give off the impression that all of his actions were measured, careful... Eventually, he would have that luxury but not now.

Aetharius glared at the Ranger for a few moments, composing himself to revert back to his distasteful look before continuing. "The Ranger clearly has no etiquette, points against him I say, eh?"

A few murmurs of agreement passed among the 'court' on either sides whilst the people on the terrace remained silent. However Hawke had to restrain a tick mark from appearing on his forehead with all of his might whilst reigning in the feral sensation that started spreading out from his back to rip out the man's throat.

"Let's continue... We all remember the attempted coup that nearly had England in a state of political upheaval and we all remember who were responsible for this attempted coup," The man paused, glancing around the wide hall for a moment to let the information sink in before continuing. "The Rangers Guild, led by their Ranger-General, attempted to kill our king and claim the throne for themselves! After that moment his majesty declared that all new Rangers were to come -here-, to Albion, to be informed of this and correctly inducted into the ruling guild. Most of chosen to run and there has even been a rumour of other illegal guilds popping up in foreign countries... Yet now, we allow a Ranger to walk into our halls with such a preposterous claim. I say, with his current behaviour, that was deal with him and be done with the matter!"

A few louder murmurs of agreement spread throughout the crowd but other then that most people simply remained silent but kept their eyes on the scene before them with un-rivalled interest. Aetharius stopped in his ranting, looking around at the crowd for a few moments before stepping off to the sides with beads of sweat running down his face. He had to propel his voice around the room and it took more effort then most believed.

"I rest my claim." He stated, taking his place next to one of the royal guardsmen and eyeing Aneira coolly.

The latter nodded at him, stepping forward and casting a keen eye around the hall catching everyone's eyes at one point or another and giving them all the same look. The same... Cool... Calculating look. "Now... I speak. Aneira Ice, Magistrix of the Council of Albion would like to put forward the idea of supporting this Ranger's claim and the idea of a new Ranger's Guild to be considered."

Murmurs... Not many but they were still there. It was enough to give anyone pause since murmurs could fast develop into all out denial for the idea.

"Would you like to hear my case, your majesty? Or shall I simply pack my bags?" Aneira fixed her eyes on the man sitting on his wooden throne. The king returned her gaze with his own before a small smile broke out across hiss features and he gave her a small wave.

"Go on, Aneira, I am interested to hear what you have to say."

"Thank you, My lord," The Ice Queen paused for a moment, shooting another look around the room and gaining the attention of all of the nobles and guards a like. "Some of you know me, some of you do not. I am Aneira Ice, better known as the 'Ice Queen' and I was the one who informed the king of the plot the Ranger's put into play. How? Well, it was simple. I learned of the plot from three Rangers who came to me in a moment of guilt and I conveyed this to the king."

Looks were exchanged and the atmosphere became enveloped with a dull chill which seemed to be emanating from Aneira. "Where are these three Rangers?" One of the nobles called from the side, earning a few murmurs of agreement which Aneira took as a go ahead for her next crazy idea.

"Well, Baron Tor, they're right here."

Aneira raised her staff one moment and the next she sent the bottom of it slamming into the ground, sending out a wave of ice that spread across the floor... But only spreading behind her into the gap which was the carpet and a few moments later a loud crashing sound was heard. Everyone looked on in horror as a massive piece of ice began to come out of the ice from the floor, revealing inside three blurred figures. But all of them were green blurs.

The ice continued to rise out of the floor as there were a few frenzied shouts of panic between some of the lesser nobles and yet the guardsmen did not move an inch. They stood, stoically as always, unmoving but their eyes flitted between the large piece of ice and the Ice Queen. What was she planning?

"Betrayal in the House of our King! Someone, arrest her!"

The shout pierced the room through the frenzied shouts but it was quickly silenced by some of the surrounding nobles. None of the guards had moved an inch, even Sori and crew just watched on in amusement just as the ice finally stopped moving and came to rest for a few moments. Silence and tension filled the atmosphere, tension that could have been cut with a butter knife and it was shattered... As was the block of ice.

Sparkling shards of ice slowly rained down on everyone, as if in slow motion. They were beautiful, to say the least but that wasn't what was attracting the looks. The three green blurs slowly came into focus and all of them were stretching, flexing and getting used to the freedom before all three as if at the same time walked up to Hawke and slapped the man on the back before giving respectful nods to Aneira.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Leya, Shylah and Leala. Rangers of the Kingdom and loyal to his majesty the king."

The three FEMALE Rangers exchanged grins before going down on one knee, lowering their heads whilst they all seemed to shiver at odd intervals. The green cloaks had patterns of snow flakes on them which seemed to have come from the dispelling of their 'Ice Prison'.

Hawke had to keep his eyes glued forwards to avoid staring at the three women but his eyes were caught on those of the king and the two shared a moment where their eyes met. It wasn't much but both understood the other before both of their eyes drifted. The king turned his eyes to stare at the three newly released Rangers, who still had grins painted on their faces. The murmurs began to quieten down as the king stood up from his throne and began to descend the steps.

And then he spoke in a calm, collected voice forcing everyone to remain dead silent to hear what he had to say. The king did not raise his voice and did not put in more effort to make himself heard then was necessary. "Ice Queen, perhaps I could talk to your Ranger friend alone since this meeting is slowly turning into a parliamentary meeting as to whether or not to reinstate the Ranger's Guild."

Aneira moved her spare hand and placed it against her heart, inclining her head whilst also giving Hawke a small jab with the butt of her staff. "Of course... Go on."

Hawke took a few tentative steps forward towards the King who gave him a reassuring smile and his features were thrown into light. High cheek bones, short, blonde hair accompanied by a pair of cobalt blue eyes whilst a long sword dangled from a scabbard at his waist. "Come, Ranger, walk with me."

The entire hall was silent as the King led Hawke away, two of the golden guardsmen accompanying them out of the hall. A few more moments of silence accompanied their exit before there was a loud outburst from Aetharius... Sadly, Hawke couldn't hear the outburst as a pair of heavy wooden doors were swung closed behind him and a wide stone hallway with paintings on either side of different people wearing the same crown the king wore. The guards walked ahead of them whilst the king gave Hawke an honest smile.

"Come, let's get to know each other."

He could only nod in response as the king of England was walking serenely down the corridor that would have been completely dark had it not been for the braziers on either side of the paintings that lined the corridor.

"My name is Alistair, King of England and the supreme commander of the United Isles Forces. And you?"

Now this was the way to ask for someone's name. "Hawke."

"Just Hawke?"

"Just Hawke."

Alistair chuckled lightly as the two continued to walk as the sound of his laughter echoed along with their footsteps down the nearly empty corridor. "Well, I think we should give you a last name. How about _'Kirkwall'_?"

Hawke was taken a back for a moment, composing himself as Alistair continued to chuckle; more from his reaction then anything else. "I played that game too, Hawke. So, Hawke Kirkwall?"

"Does that make you Alistair Therin?"

The two exchanged looks for a moment before the king of England laughed again, the sound somewhat warm giving more life to the corridor. "I suppose so! But now, Hawke, care to explain to me why you wouldn't betray me and why Aneira has such faith in you?"

"Short version or long version?"

"I'd prefer the truthful version, Hawke."

"Truthful version... Well, I think I can do that."

The two shared another look, this time ones filled with mirth as Hawke paused in the long walk and pulled back his hood just as the two reached the light at the end of the tunnel and emerged out onto a wide balcony that had a few scattered chairs and small tables. "First, let's take a seat."

And they did, the two men taking seats either side of one another at the very edge, a marvelous view of Albion stretching out beneath them past the royal gardens and spreading out for miles around. The two royal guards now stood on either sides of the door the two had exited by and now stood vigilant.

Alistair unclipped the scabbard from his belt and lent it against the table, Hawke quickly following suit with his own hunting dagger.

"Where do I start?"

"The beginning helps." Again, a chuckle rang out from both of the men before Hawke began. At the beginning, funnily enough.

"Well, me and Aneira know each other OOC and we are friends at the Sixth Form we go to. She's known me ever since mine and her dad were friends when my dad travelled the world. But... She knows me better then most people."

"Oh? How does she know you better than most?"

"Well, Alistair, we have had our moments of friendship. Plus she helps me when I'm in trouble and, in return, I do the same... We trust each other with no strings attatched."

"So, why do you think she believes you'd make a good Ranger and leader whilst also keeping your loyalty to me, hm?"

Hawke paused for a few moments, leaning back in the chair and staring up at the blue sky. A few clouds were drifting up there in the big blue but other then that there wasn't anything blemishing the view. Still staring up at the sky, the Ranger replied. "Because she's gone all in and made it so if I get into trouble, she does as well and she knows I won't do anything to drop her in it."

"Ah... That explains a lot, young Hawke," The Ranger's eyes drifted from the big blue and back to the king who's own eyes were still trained on him and filled with revelation. "Aneira wrote me a letter explaining the situation and her firm belief that you were loyal to the kingdom through your loyalty to her thus declaring that she would support you with all of her assets in toe. If you were to burn, she'd have rather burned with you were her words... Such friendship, sounds like something more..." The king trailed off with a small grin playing across his lips whilst Hawke was left to pick up on what he meant. When he did, the young Ranger's cheeks erupted in colour and he turned to look out over the city.

"It's nothing like that!"

"Haha! Sure it isn't! Now tell me, Hawke... What would you do if I threatened Aneira's life?"

The light hearted atmosphere dissipated in a fraction of a second as Hawke's eyes immediately darted back, making eye contact with the king. The once jolly mood had been replaced with a serious silence as the two simply stared at one another for a long while, causing the two guards at the closed doors to exchange worried looks through their visors.

Minutes of silence... The two simply stared at one another and if the slowly more chilling aura was anything to say then anyone below would think there was some kind of Ice Mage practicing their spells. "Your answer is what I expected. Have no worry, The Ice Queen could easily dispatch most would be assailants without even breaking a sweat... Your friend is a piece of work that would make a devastating enemy however she makes an amazing ally. Wise, a high degree of common sense and let's not forget the fact she's one hell of a looker."

Hawke's eyebrow visibly twitched at that but Alistair continued regardless. "I'll trust her judgement, you can stay a Ranger and have free reign in the Isles however I'm afraid, to appease the Nobles, I must put a time limit on the formation of your Ranger's Guild. If you bring five other Rangers before me by the end of the week then I'm afraid you'll be forced to join the ruling guild as a scout. Do you accept?"

"Yea... May as well."

"Good, I am happy that this meeting was drawn to a close with a new friend." Alistair smiled, tilting his head slightly to make himself seem more like a keen child then a wise ruler.

"Yea... Uh, your majesty?"

"What's wrong, Hawke?"

"When can I... You know, visit with the Rangers in toe?"

"Anytime! I'll have Sori and co on the entrance to the palace at times so you have a clear shot to me when we need to make it official."

"Thank you, your majesty."

"No Hawke... Thank you. With the Rangers back we'll have a tactical advantage back that we lost so... Get out there!"

* * *

The Lion's Head inn was always a crowded place being in the capital with a wide array of people coming from all over the place to just sit down, have a drink and even share a tale or two of their lives. It was a player run Inn meaning all the supplies they sold were made by the owners and everything that the Inn is and will be - Player made.

Right now the inn was bustling with activity, all of its tables filled with people so that the owner had to bring on the extra helping hands to ensure everyone was served. But none of his waiters would go close to the plae they had designated for the night 'The Green corner'. Why? Well... Isn't it obvious?

Five green hooded and cloaked figures sat there, three of them chatting about one thing or another whilst the other two just sat there in silence with their eyes scanning the Inn occasionally disturbing the other customers. Newbies might consider them just a bunch of rogues look to make quick coin but the owner was wiser then that... He knew who they were and cursed the very profession and order that they had originated from.

This evening couldn't possibly get any worse!

And, in those immortal words, it just got worse.

The doors to the Inn banged open and the light from a setting sun crept inside for a moment before being blocked by the newly arrived figures. Four green hooded and cloaked figures, averaging around the same height, walked in together and earned the looks of everyone in the Inn including the five in the corner.

"Don't let me disturb happy hour." The central figure spoke, stepping forward and beginning to wade his way through the waves of people who did nothing to make it easier for him. The three others paused before following him through the crowds, their busts not exactly making it easy for them as the four of them approached the table with five of their fellows at.

The five at the table did nothing to make room for their encroaching companions except raise their eyebrows at the odd, snowflake patterns on three of their cloaks. Not odd in the slightest was the sarcastic thought which travelled around the group.

"Hello, shall we take this outside... I have a feeling happy hour is over." The leader commented and the five merely exchanged looks before nodding in agreement.

The eight Rangers waded their way out of the crowd, heading out of the door the three had just come through and emerging out onto a quiet street with a few braziers flickering in the light. The Rangers all made their way down a side alleyway, and found a few boxes to sit themselves on and whilst seven of them sat down the eighth stayed standing with his hood still drawn up but a smile still playing across his lips.

"Greetings... Fellows. I'm Hawke Kirkwall and well... I'd like to get the Ranger's Guild back on its feet. What do you all say?"

There was silence for a few moments among the group, with only the sounds coming from the Inn to keep them company for a few moments before one of the others spoke.

"No."


	5. Chapter 5 - Shana Rias

**Medieval Ages Online**

**Chapter 5 - Shana Rias**

_'__We're made up of thousands of parts with thousands of functions all working in tandem to keep us alive. Yet if only one part of our imperfect machine fails, life fails. It makes one realize how fragile... how flawed we are...'_  
_- Ingun Black-Briar (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)_

"Oi! Garret!"

"DAD! BAD TIME!"

Garret opened his eyes, looking through it to see his father's face inches from his whilst his hot breath assaulted his cold face. He was in his room and had been about to reply to the Rangers when he felt wrenched from the reality and had disappeared in a swirl of light before their eyes.

"Your mother's just been called out to the hospital, one of her patients has entered a critical condition." His father's voice was calm but even through the tinted visor and the darkness of the room Garret could see his father trembling with... Excitement?

"Yea... That's all bad and such but why did you yank me?"

"You've been playing too much Halo. BUT! Back to the point, I want you to meet someone and I needed to add her to your local memory." His father was still trembling as he held up an odd looking stick, looking similar to a memory stick but more square in shape. It looked so much like the AI chip he had seen in...

"Dad, is this...?"

"Let me plug it in! Initiate the link when I tell you and then you'll get to meet her in a scenery of your choosing."

Garret nodded in response, his father's excitement finally infiltrating his body as he closed his eyes as he felt and heard the sound of the Medieval Ages Online game being removed from his gear and being replaced by something else and then the soft thunk from the chip being inserted into his NerveGear.

"Alright, now bear in mind she's a bit... Surprising. So try not to be seduced by her looks."

What the hell was he on about?

"Link Start!"

The familiar sensation of being wrenched from reality and being forced into virtual reality took hold of him but it only lasted a moment and to say he was surprised and what his eyes were greeted with was an understatement. But what he found himself in was enough a shock.

He was inside of a small coffee shop in the middle of a bustling city with small tables and other couples sat around all drinking their tea and coffee whilst he sat in a table in the furthest corner next to the window. It was snowing outside and his clothing mirrored this with a scarf wrapped around his neck accompanied by a white body warmer with black sleeves which was fur lined. But how did... What was... Oh Dad you-

"Hey."

A cute voice interrupted his inner cursing and he looked up to see... Holy mother of... What a big pair of...

"Mr Lane, my eyes are up here."

Indeed they were and it took all of Garret's power to tear his eyes from the pair of breasts to see two locks of beautiful red hair framing a kind looking face that was currently tilted with a small smile dancing across the woman's lips. Woman? Well... She looked around his age. Just matured faster. Her body was wrapped in several layers of winter clothing which were all the same red as her hair and a few moments later he was graced with those beautiful eyes.

Those ruby eyes opened up and stared at him with a mix of amusement and playfulness lingering on the surface.

"Indeed they are... Uh, sorry I um!" He was stuttering, pausing - What the hell was wrong with him?! Come on Garret, pull it together.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Shana Rias. AI unit made by your father."

And theeeeeerrreeee goes his head. His mind just went blank as he silently cursed his own father again, watching as Shana extended a slender hand across the table with her lips stretched into a smile. But now he reacted, reaching his hand forward and taking her's in his gloved hand and shaking earning a wider smile from the AI before the latter withdrew her hand slowly.

"So you must have questions, I'll answer honestly."

"Uhh... Why don't you just... Give me a basic overview?" Garret began slowly, staring at Shana for a few moments as the girl- No. AI. She's an AI... The AI took off one of her gloves, picking up a cup of tea and taking a small sip from the hot liquid before letting out a satisfied sigh. Was she thinking about what she was going to say? No, no... AIs didn't take long to think. They were machines after all.

"Well, my name is Shana Rias. I was given the choices of names from your father, who offered me a list and I had to choose. After looking into each of the backgrounds for each of the names, I chose Shana Rias. I was made... Around a year ago and my appearance was originally a younger child based on your age so your father treated me like the second child. But the more intelligent, completely artificial child. My initial purpose was to help your father organise work and to assist with repairing damaged equipment that could be accessed through cyber space however since then and the possibility of the very first prototypes being developed he intends to have me be your personal guardian."

The entire café had emptied in the space of the beginning of their conversation and now. Her explanation was met with silence and a raised eyebrow as Garret slowly digested the information at human speed. Shana waited patiently with the smile slipping from her face as Garret's brow continued to furrow in mock irritation before it collapsed in on itself and he smiled widely.

"So you're like my own angel?"

"If you wish to put it like that... Yes. I'm your angel. Or devil, depending on who you prefer."

"Meh, I'm not fussy but what did you mean by implantation process?"

"Basically, implantation has been present for a while now but here in her majesty's almighty kingdom we have only just begun the stages of AI - Human implantation. Your father worked temporarily on the topic and has sought to bring about this new piece of equipment to allow the implantation process. With your mother as a doctor and her own insight into the area of health and the human body, he managed to get further in the area then most until he decided to produce me."

"Hold on a second - My dad travelled the world as a Palaeontologist... Where'd he get all this I.T experience from?"

"You'd have to ask him but back to the point. Your father asked me to ask you before he finally handed me over if you'd like your seventeenth birthday present early?"

"Uh... Why wouldn't I?" To be honest, he was confused. But something about Shana gave him a good feeling until his logical side kept trying to take control of the reigns and beat into him that she was just a bunch of ones and zeroes.

"Because it involves an extensive surgical procedure that could result in multiple results that aren't successful including you becoming brain dead, paralyzed, impaired in some way and so many more gruesome results."

Shana was no longer smiling at him, her face falling into something of a sad expression whilst Garret's own mouth hung open. "And dad is willing for me to risk all of that just to have an AI implanted in my head?!"

"That's the nice way to put it, yes." Yep, there it was. She was smiling again whilst Garret let out a heavy sigh, leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling.

"I'll miss Sixth Form! How many weeks will I be off?"

"Two weeks."

"TWO WEEKS?! That's a lot of work!"

"I'm an AI, Garret. I'll be implanted in your head. Please figure it out." Her words were held down by the weight of sarcasm and Garret couldn't help but chuckle as his mind connected the dots.

"Oh... Yea. AI in my head. You could help with Sixth Form. Well uh... What about the game?"

"What about it?"

"Well I need to get back in there and talk to the other Rangers!"

"Oh... Your father took your place for a little while, using your saved data and files."

The expression on Garret's face had be varying throughout the encounter but I'm sure you can imagine the newest. His face suddenly fell and he lowered his face into his palms. "What can Dad do?!"

"You'd be surprised," Shana commented, a smile reappearing on her lips as she adjusted her position on the seat causing her breasts to jiggle slightly and a trickle of blood to escape from Garret's nose. "Oh... You're at that age, aren't you? Here."

Garret glanced down to see a napkin in one of her hands which he hurriedly took, wiping his nose free of blood and muttering a thank you.

"So, what's your decision? Either way, we're staying together."

And now he had to pause in his wiping to seriously consider the question. His father wanted him to be one of the first people to be physically implanted with an AI unit but with all the strings attached of the possibility of being physically or mentally impaired in some way afterwards. Worst case scenario? Becoming brain dead. Best case scenario? He gets Shana implanted and becomes known as a genius of his time. Oh yea... What If mum finds out? She'll flip a table if she realizes I could have DIED.

"Uh, who's doing the surgery?"

"The surgery will be performed by one of the doctors at one of the private hospitals in Ro, you'll have to forgive me the name has slipped my mind."

No it hadn't. How could it? She's an AI. Maybe she was just trying to set him at ease and get him use to the idea of having her around and that she wasn't going to be like the AI in the book he had read. Sarcastic, inhuman, constantly joking about death and killing everyone.

"Uhh... When is it?"

"If you agree to the procedure then it will take place in two weeks time on March the eighteenth so, do you want the procedure?"

Garret considered once again the possible results of the procedure and of course what would happen if it failed. Well his Dad wouldn't put him through something needlessly and something this dangerous... FINE.

"Fine, I'll do it."

"That's great! I can't wait to be riding piggyback in your head," Shana's smile seemed to light up the room for a few moments before her face fell slightly at the still conflicted expression on Garret's face. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll be hanging around with you in the NerveGear when ever you use it."

"So does that mean you'll be piggybacking whenever I go into MAO?"

"Yep, but I'll be spawning in the starting town... Hold on." And now her AI side was shown as Shana set the cup of tea down, her eyes glazing over for a moment whilst her entire body shook. It was quite a sight as the woman shook... jiggle... Jiggle... Jigggle...

"Information download complete, Medieval Ages Online Basic Guide information downloaded and analysed for holes and mistakes. Basic game knowledge claimed," Shana paused a moment, her eyes looking normal again as a smile broke free from her face. "I think I'll be a Ranger, like you, but use some Pyromancy!"

Garret simply stared for a few moments before he logged out of the simulation, the feeling of being yanked out of the virtual reality and being thrown into the real one claimed him and he already felt the warmth coming from someone who was leaning over him.

"Dad... I will kill you if this fails, alright?" he spoke into the darkness, earning a chuckle as he heard a soft thunk and a click.

"Right, right... Get some sleep. I... Fixed your problem with the Rangers. I used my powers of reason and persuasion to get your point across but there was someone missing or so they told me. Leona, you'll have to deal with her yourself."

"How did you talk to them?"

"I used your avatar and just convinced them by using a few tricks of my own but Leona logged out before I turned up. Abruptly, like you. Now sleep my son! Rest your little Ranger ass."

* * *

"Hey idiot!"

"Morning to you as well, Celia."

Garret looked up from the chair he was in, staring into the eyes of the most scariest girl he'd ever meet. And now she seemed to be emitting waves of a scary aura that made him want to shrink back and disappear into the chair.

"Don't give me that, why did you do -that-?"

"What do you mean -that-?"

"PLAYING DUMB?!"

And now, he truly was shrinking back into the chair and he had to quietly pray for salvation which came in the form of Rolan. "Yo Garret! Congratulations on setting up the Ranger's Guild last night!"

"Yea you idiot! You didn't even come and get me so I could be there with you!"

"I... What?" And now was the moment where he actually wanted to throttle his own father within an inch of his life as Corina walked up next to Marian. The two appeared to be chatting happily but broke off the moment they saw Hawke.

"Hey Hawke! Nice job making Corina your advisor by the way!"

Dad. You are going to die. Painfully. Quickly. And in the most painful way possible. Death by mother.

"You guys, I've had a slip of memory. Mind explaining to me what exactly happened last night?"

"Idiot... Well, Corina was there for some of it. You shot her a message asking for her to meet you outside the Lion's Head and then you had a really mature moment as you explained why Rangers needed to band together after the mistakes from the past. Then they agreed with you, but one of them was missing but that was enough for you to go straight to the king with the other Rangers and establish the first Ranger's guild whilst declaring that Corina will be your advisor and a tutor for those wishing to learn nature magic within the guild and let's not forget the best part!" Rolan rambled on, breaking off at the end and taking a deep breath whilst Marian picked up where he left off.

"You stated that, and I quote! _'To ensure the highest amount of co-operation between the new Ranger's Guild, now known as the Shrouded Genesis. For our guild was born from the shadows of the last Ranger's Guild and so our origin shall always be shrouded in shadow.' _You were kind of a badass when you said it."

"I'm a badass all the time. You just happened to notice that time." They all laughed lightly, but it was quickly silenced when you caught Celia's eyes. She was trying to burn holes through Garret and it may have worked if they were in the game.

"Ya know, Celia, all he did was get the guild set up. You're gonna need to help him later with setting up the Guild hall and the resources to make it and set up the training facilities AND get the advertisements sorted out... He still needs you." Rolan added in, trying to lighten the atmosphere. If anything, Celia's expression did lighten up slightly but her eyebrow continued to twitch for a few moments before her entire face relaxed and a small smile broke through.

"Fine, I'll still help the idiot."

* * *

"That was quick."

Hawke stood in front of a newly erected building, far out into the forest near Albion. The building... Well. It was a tree house. A massive treehouse that stretched from tree to tree, joined buy rope bridges and set high in the canopy with ladders that stretched down to allow people to climb up. It was a magnificent sight to behold and kind of scary how it was made so quickly.

"So... How did you...?"

A woman wearing blue robes walked up next to him, leaning heavily on her staff whilst a smile danced across her lips. "It was easy! We just got some nature builders and BOOM! Done."

"Nature... Builders?"

"Yea you idiot! it cost a lot so you owe me, AGAIN!"

Garret sighed, quickly receiving a slap around the back of the head followed by a loud spout of laughter from behind them.

The two turned to see the other rangers striding towards them as one of the other males let out an appreciative whistle. "What a place... And you two come with the place? Sweet."

"Right Hawke, here are the keys to the place..." Aneira paused, pulling out what appeared to be a pair of keys and handing them to him. "… Don't lose them, the keys just represent ownership and allow you to lock and unlock the place as you see fit. That's just the front door but other rooms have separate keys. Enjoy yourself Ranger." And with that, the Ice Queen of England disappeared in a swirl of ice shards.

Before he could even say anything the male Ranger spoke up again. "First come, first serve!" Before darting up the rope ladder dead in front of them. He was quickly followed by his female companion who always seemed glued to his side before everyone else began to scatter and disappeared up the other ladders.

"I CLAIM THE LARGEST ROOM IN THE MAIN TREE, IDIOTS!" Hawke yelled at the top of his lungs.

Minutes later the new leader of the Ranger's Guild found himself in the largest room in the main tree which happened to be on a raised level over the others. You had to climb another ladder within the building itself to reach it and even then the room was positioned on the very tip of a large oak. It wasn't exactly a 'big' room however it was big enough to house a double bed, an alchemy station, a desk, chair, wardrobe, weapon's rack fixed against the wall, a balcony so you could look out into the glade that was positioned conveniently next to the Guild base. Below him was the main hall of the guild which happened to double as the hall they could meet for dining, meetings and other tasks which might require a gathering.

But, in an amusing turn of events, the other trees held one private room at the top (All on a lower high to his) whilst beneath them they all held some kind of space. Fenris was situated above the armoury, Natasha was above the Fletcher's shop, Léon was above the tailor's shop, Midnight was in one of the observation towers, Leya had taken residence in the space above the general store whilst Shylah and Leya shared a room just above the Apprentice's barracks. Gaia had summoned up a tree of her own and decided to take residence in a more traditional tree house with just a small chest nestled in the branches accompanied by a bedroll laid out over one of the branches.

Now he had to descend the ladder and find Leona, who had taken residence in the room above the Inn. Yes, they had an Inn to attract more people and more possible contracts to be attracted through word of mouth. The Ranger made his way down one ladder, crossing a rope bridge that led from the main hall to the Inn. The Inn itself was relatively small with a counter, some stools, and some visible kegs spread around with another rope ladder leading up to a... Trap door?

"Hey Leona, are you there?"

"No."

"Can you open the hatch?"

Hawke couldn't help but grin slightly at her sarcastic response but the grin was wiped from his face as he heard the creaking and the trap door was flung open but no light emerged from the room above as it was blocked by the figure of Leona.

"What do you want Hawke?"

"Uh, just wanted to check on you."

Now this was an odd position to be having a conversation in, with him being just below the trap door and his head almost on level with the floorboards.

"Why would you want to do that?" Leona muttered, staring down at him and it was only now that he recognized a pair of green eyes staring down at him. They were slightly un-nerving but he kept his position, the other alternative being to drop down the ladder and flee.

"Well... You're a fellow... I'd expect you to do the same for me." Hawke trailed off towards the end, noticing how foolish his words were sounding. After all they had all known each other barely a day and he was already declaring things like that? Looks like he'd need a trip to the asylum.

Leona hadn't replied and the new Ranger was beginning to feel like he should quickly flee the scene.

"Thank you... I'm alright."

"That's a relief! If you ever need anything just come see me. Talk another time!" And with that, he slid down the ladder and disappeared out of sight. But not out of mind.

"What an idiot."

* * *

"Hey Sori!"

"Hawke!"

The two men exchanged a firm handshake before immediately breaking off. Hawke had made his first declaration as the new head... Cake. The second was to send a Ranger to all the starting areas whilst leaving Leona and Fenris at the base, which hadn't been named yet, to look after it.

Hawke had made the decision to head to Quay and try and find some recruits... And Shana. Oh boy she was going to be pissed off but could AI become pissed off? The answer to that was awaiting him somewhere in the small town.

"Look at you! Got your emblem sorted yet, lad?" Sori led the way slowly down the street, passing a group of new players who all inclined their heads to Sori with smiles painted on their faces at the sight of the apparently old man.

"Nope, we're gonna have a vote on it. But I've told them no pink."

"Haha, good idea lad! Or you'll have a pink unicorn emblazoned on those cloaks."

The two laughed loudly as they strode down the street, the cool sea breeze licking their faces for a few moments and the soft smell of salt tickling their nostrils. "Say Sori, seen any poor sods for the meat grinder?"

"You've seen most of them already, Hawke. But there has been this very... Uh... Well... Fiery lass. Not your type, I'd say."

"Oh?" Hawke's interest was now peeked but he had a small inclining of who Sori was on about.

"Big busted lass spawned in a few hours ago wearing the starting Ranger outfit. She knew what to do and immediately broke off and did some huntin' and such. Later she walks into the Inn, sells all the pelts she grabbed and then proceeded to hunt far and wide for a book on sorcery. I am not joking, lad, she went everywhere! Scared everyone half to deat'. Let's not forget the fact that when she found the book and someone taught her the first stage... SHE NEARLY SET THE FOREST ON FIRE!"

Sori was sweaty copiously, with large droplets of sweat pouring down his face as they approached the Inn but it slowly became a smile. "But she's nice enough."

They drew closer to the Inn and it wasn't a moment later that the door was flung open and, standing in the doorway, was a big breasted woman with long, flowing red hair and a pair of red eyes. All of this clashed horribly with the green of her sleeveless hooded jacket but the hood itself was hanging loosely behind her. The woman had the same gear that Hawke had when he started off... Bar the large book dangling from her belt that looked like it was being strapped on by another belt. Correct that... IT WAS being kept on by another belt.

The moment she caught Hawke's eyes, her own narrowed as Sori muttered again. "She ain't your type, lad."

His mouth dropped when the woman threw herself at Hawke with a loud yell of "SENPAI!"


	6. PSA - Safety on the internet

**Medieval Ages Online**

**PSA - Safety on the internet kiddos**

**Hello ladies and gentlemen and just general viewers of Medieval Ages Online! It is I! The great and powerful... Well, not so powerful but still pretty good - Aristotle! Please, ladies, stop swooning. **

**Now I am here to give you all a quick run down of the MAO story to come and the thoughts ahead including (Perhaps) the most interesting part - Garret's implantation process. Now I already have a plan for this scene and Act 2 however the two weeks will not simply be gone in a matter of chapters. It'll be that long for the implantation since, after that, things are going to get interesting in the real world as well as the virtual world. **

**By the way, I do not own Sword Art Online.**

**But back to the matter at hand, you may be curious as to the possible 'pairings' so I'd like to get it out of the way now by saying the following. **

**Medieval Ages Online will not be orientated around pairings for the first chapter. Any flirting or romantic actions are either a foreshadowing of things to come or they're just playful. NO PAIRINGS WILL BE CONFIRMED even by the end of Act 1. **

**If you have any questions feel free to PM me or leave it in a review. **

**Be safe on the internet kiddos and remember not to look for M rated fanfiction unless you're ready for lemons. **

**Your friend,  
xxAristotlexxx**

**EXTRA EDITION: Medieval Ages Online is currently on hold whilst I gather my notes and prepare for a secret project! If you are interested to read more of my fanfics then Fav/Follow me as an author! **

**Garret: I KNEW IT! I BLOODY KNEW IT!**

**Aristotle: I am not abandoning, Garret. **

**Garret: Yes... You are... I knew this would happen...**

**Noir: Hey there mate, calm down. He nearly did the same thing with the Black Knight but he always bounces back. **

**Kai: Atleast he bounced back for you guys...**

***Scene before you is four teenagers including Garret with his arm around a teen with black/brown hair and green eyes standing next to a taller teen wearing a black trench coat and black hair tied in a pony tail. A teen, the same age as Garret is infront of the three of them with his fingers in a peace sign and his held tilted in a small smile whilst his green eyes glint whilst his black hair covers his head completely. All of the boys are smiling and the image is entitled...**

**... From my mind, to yours. From left to right, Garret, Clancy, Kai and Noir. The main OCs of xxAristotlexxx.**


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